#yakuza meta

[gamerism]

Kiryu Kazumi is an interesting exercise in fandom, in my opinion. And I wanna talk about that.

[Kazumi is the fan created drag persona for Kiryu. Often Kiryu is genderfluid or exploring identity through her.]

Kazumi places a few tiers down the "non-canon fandom iceberg". She exists in response to Goromi who is already a very minor thing in canon, and was written as a Bit/with the intent to make an offensive joke about drag/ect, the fandom were the ones who made Goromi mean more than that. So Kazumi is a layer down from all of that already.

Despite her existence being entirely fanmade, she's not a vehicle for the fandom to cannibalise the source material into something unrecognisable purely for fanworks' sake. Though she might look it on the surface.

If the fandom decided to make Goromi mean something because she's the most blatant moment of queercoding for Majima in a long history of queercoding for him, then her theme is ultimately masculinity in canon.

Which is absolutely what Kazumi is about. Kiryu sits at the very beating heart of Like A Dragon's themes about masculinity. Be it toxic, be it ideals, be it the kind of appearances you're expected to maintain in the yakuza. Kiryu shoulders the heavy burden of them all.

We see him exhibit both positive and toxic masculinity throughout the series. But what the games have rarely brought up for him, is the rejection of masculinity in any context, or at least, femininity in equal amounts.

This isn't really surprising, if they're unwilling to make Majima say he's gay with his own mouth after using queerness as a means to Other him and make him seem dangerous, untrustworthy and even scary...they're certainly not going to have their shining beacon of Honour, Kiryu, do that. (Majima's queerness and coding has changed role somewhat over time and is generally more neutral or positive in positioning now. But even as recently as Yakuza Kiwami, it was being used in a negative way.)

So Kazumi serves the purpose for fans who wish to delve more deeply into that thorny complex relationship to masculinity.

[Kazumi In Kiwami 2 On NexusMods] By kiryussideburns.

Personally I find the idea of Kiryu exploring Kazumi as a means of escape, as a means of fully free self expression (something Kiryu has never had), really really interesting. I also find the time frame she's generally written in interesting. Most people place her post-2005. Kazama is dead. This is a hugely important factor in Kiryu's willingness to take the risk to explore gender expression. Kazama is not the kind of man who approves of any (perceived) weakness in men. In Kiryu and Nishiki's lives he's who instills a lot of toxic aspects of masculinity in them. I'd also hazard a strong guess that he's homophobic, though we don't actually know that.

The next largest factor is that December 2005 is the point where Kiryu leaves the Tojo Clan permanently. Kiryu definitely still cares a great deal deep down about his image and public perception within the underworld after leaving, but his day-to-day is no longer dictated by the rules of that life.

(Some people, me included, also dabble in Kazumi in 1988. But the same things essentially apply there. Kazama is in prison & as far away as he can functionally be while alive. And Kiryu is out of the Tojo Clan temporarily.)

As someone so enamoured with this exploration of gender expression for the character, I was floored when LAD Gaiden allowed Kiryu to wear makeup. Seriously, I had to go lay down to calm down about it when playing Gaiden day of release.

(Gaiden's lighting is very contrasted, I did my best to find a screenshot where you can actually see the makeup.)

The makeup, nail polish and pearl earrings in the Boutique was kind of unbelievable to me. I know RGG didn't really mean anything by it, that they didn't make those customisation options because they were going to touch on these themes. But even the hint of that in canon, it was so much more than I ever expected....even if it did go nowhere, as I knew it would.

It kind of gives me hope that Goromi might mean something more than just an offensive joke (in canon anyway) in the future. Or if not Goromi than something else, in LAD9 or such. Either way Kazumi will continue to be fandom legacy for gender expression, presentation and what the expectations Kiryu & other characters have resting on them mean.

[odessa-castle]

I'm bouncing around a larger post about Nishiki and the mortifying ordeal of being known, but in the meantime I'm thinking about Nishiki and Kiryu and how the clothes make (or don't make) the man. Like, beyond my visceral horror that Kiryu begged Nishiki to pick out a safe and boring suit for him in Y0 and then said he was envisioning something purple with gold stripes.

I'm thinking about Nishiki's incredible sensitivity to image and his need to control how he's perceived. I'm thinking about Kiryu's inability to let go of the past. I'm thinking about how KIryu dresses like who he thinks he is, and Nishiki dresses like who he thinks he wants to be.

There's some interesting incidental dialogue between Nishiki and Kiryu in Y0 while they're en route to the men's suit store. I wish it wasn't so easy to miss, because there's a lot to unpack here. (I'm just transcribing the English in-game subtitles here; I don't speak Japanese so I have no idea how loose vs. direct the localization is in this part.)

NISHIKI: …now that I think about it, you've been dressing like an old man since we were kids. KIRYU: Have I? NISHIKI: Yeah. The few times we got to pick our clothes, it was always like, "you're choosing THAT?" NISHIKI: I wouldn't say you're a plain guy…You'd pick shirts with weird prints though. KIRYU: Guess I forgot all that. It's weirder to me that you haven't. NISHIKI: Well, confession time. You're why I started caring about fashion. I swore I'd never go out dressed like you. KIRYU: Come on, I'm not THAT bad. [we have already discussed why kiryu is, in fact, that bad.] NISHIKI: [laughing] Aww, did I hurt your feelings? NISHIKI: Well, this time you've got me with you. I'll see my bro gets taken care of. KIRYU: Heh. What an honor. NISHIKI: Leave it to me.

Nishiki doesn't bring up Sunflower Orphanage much; when he does share memories of his childhood, those memories are kind of painful (see: "do orphans not get to dream?"). Kiryu's surprised that Nishiki remembers how they dressed as kids, but it makes sense that wearing a limited selection of hand-me-downs stuck with Nishiki so strongly. His clothes announced his poverty, and they weren't even his -- he had to share them with the other orphans, so what he wore showed he belonged to yet another stigmatized group. And I'm sure people picked up on those visual signals, especially other kids. Kids can be vicious, and appearance is an easy and immediate target! We don't know for sure how young Nishiki interacted with his peers and teachers, but given what the Morning Glory kids go through in Y3 (and given, like, everything about Nishiki), he probably didn't have a great time.

Kiryu frames his childhood as poor but loving, and places much more emphasis on the latter. There might be some rose-colored glasses at work there -- let's look at the flashback where Kazama tries (and fails) to violently dissuade Kiryu and Nishiki from joining the yakuza.

KIRYU: I owe you everything, but this isn’t about that. [...] We’ve looked up to you for all this time. Your car. Your confidence… The way everybody bows to you. We idolized you. I want that life, too. Is that so wrong!?

Nishiki doesn't really speak in this flashback, but like, Kiryu uses "we" enough for us to draw some obvious conclusions about Nishiki's own motivations. That being said, I don't think Kiryu's being dishonest or disingenuous when he describes his childhood as happy, and himself as well-loved. He's not ashamed of his upbringing, and he doesn't hide where he came from. Nishiki seems to have the inverse view. It's not that he doesn't love (at least some of) the people he grew up with, but what comes up first for him is what he didn't have. He didn't have money. He didn't have respect. He didn't have a cure for his little sister. He didn't have a lot of choice, right down to the clothes he wore.

(There's a whole other essay here about why Kiryu's and Nishiki's perspectives diverge on this, but I'm trying to limit the scope of this post. Suffice to say that, while I don't think game canon gives a timeline, I do think Nishiki was a little older when his parents were killed -- old enough that he actually remembers them, at least.)

The same mindset fuels Nishiki's interest in fashion. Yeah, part of it is that he's ribbing Kiryu, but I think it goes deeper than Kiryu wearing ugly shirts. Nishiki doesn't want people to look at him and see what's missing. Fashion isn't a means of personal expression for him, really. It's a message. It's the interplay of knowledge and resources and presentation: knowing what clothes read as successful and trendy and expensive, being able to afford those things, and convincing people that your successful important outfit makes you a successful important person. And he's not wrong about the social dimensions of fashion.

NISHIKI: Try sporting a suit that runs 500 grand for once. Trust me, you’ll see the world in a whole new light. KIRYU: Fashion’s not my thing. Besides, Kazama-san never wore flashy clothes. NISHIKI: You do realize he’s the family captain, right? Number two in the whole Dojima operation? You get to that level, you can wear whatever you damn well please. But for the rest of us, “flashy” is part of the business. KIRYU: So that fancy new car you bought was just “business”. NISHIKI: Yeah, and that fancy lighter of mine, too. Which you still haven’t given back. KIRYU: You want to play the rich guy, quit being so stingy. NISHIKI: But you get what I’m saying, right? People see the expensive car, the designer jacket, and the gleam of that little Dojima pin, they pay attention. A yakuza’s only as good as his image. [...] Take your buddy today. These squeaky-clean idiots, borrowing money just to blow on tits and booze… Nobody in this town gives a crap about substance. What you see is what you get.

That's our first take on one of the major themes of the game: what does it mean to be yakuza? Again, there is truth to what Nishiki's saying here, particularly in terms of the ethos of the eighties. I'm not an expert on the bubble era, but the worldbuilding in the game speaks for itself. People hail taxis with 10,000-yen bills. You punch money out of punks during random street battles. Nishiki keeps a personal bottle of high-end booze at a bar he's visited twice, mostly because he "can’t stand being taken for a bum." The act of spending is important, not what you're spending it on.

Nishiki's outfit in Y0 is perfectly suited (heh) to that outlook. And look, I might be inviting controversy here, but in context, I think it's a werq. Yes, it's loud. But the silhouette -- squared shoulders, single breasted, thinner peaked lapel -- is right on trend for the time period, and it fits him well. The colors look good on him. The bold pattern (no, it's not animal print) under the solid maroon is a risk, but he pulls it off. And excess aside, he knows when to pull back on the accessories. It's bright and confident and memorable, and boy would Nishiki like to be all of those things.

Also -- and importantly -- Kiryu would never go out dressed like that. Because we can't talk about Nishiki and Kiryu without talking about Nishiki's Mt. Fuji-sized inferiority complex. Mastering image doesn't just make Nishiki stand out; it makes him stand out from Kiryu. Let's go back to the beginning of the game.

NISHIKI: I’ll admit, though, you’re finally starting to look the part. You make a pretty convincing yakuza. You’re done with collections today, right? KIRYU: Yeah. NISHIKI: Good. That should put Kazama-san’s mind at ease a bit. KIRYU: Heh, dunno about that. But he always knew all I could do is fight. You’re the one who’s good at the dance.

Nishiki then calls attention to the "rags" that Kiryu's wearing, which...is not an unfair assessment. (TUCK IN YOUR SHIRT, KIRYU. HEM YOUR PANTS.) As the two of them walk around Kamurocho, Nishiki offers Kiryu plenty of hot tips, from meeting girls to making big bucks to cozying up to the brass. But even when Nishiki's opining on his area of expertise, there's a competitive edge to it. "You asking me to pick out clothes for you means you admit you have terrible taste," he tells Kiryu on the way to the suit shop. Kiryu tells him to shut up, but there's no actual hurt behind it. Kiryu doesn't really care that his taste in clothes sucks. Fashion isn't important to him. Most of the things Nishiki knows so much about don't really matter to Kiryu. And that makes Nishiki feel more insecure! Because if Kiryu rolls out of bed looking like a yakuza, if Nishiki's image counseling sessions aren't helpful or meaningful, if Kiryu can skip the dance and get to the top on the strength of his fists and convictions, then who cares about Nishiki's 500 grand suit or his hourlong hair care routine? If image isn't what makes a yakuza, what does that make Nishiki?

At the end of Chapter 6, Nishiki tries to look out for Kiryu again -- this time, by granting him a merciful death before the Dojima Family drags him to the Hole. It's one of my favorite scenes in the game. Nishiki's crying too hard to aim the gun properly; Kiryu tells him to man up and shoot. Finally, Nishiki collapses.

NISHIKI: Can’t do it… How could I shoot you!? Without you, I’ll always be nothing. Can’t make it as a yakuza… No. I wouldn’t even still be alive now if I didn’t have you beside me! I’m just… If you’re not with me, I’m useless! Nothing means anything!

Mastering image hasn't granted Nishiki anything of substance. At the end of the day, Nishiki's playing dress-up, and he knows it.

And I'm almost certainly getting into overthinking-this territory now (if I haven't gotten there already), but I kind of like the spin this puts on Nishiki ripping his expensive suit off in Chapter 14 when he decides to fight the Dojima Family at Kiryu's side. Like yes, ripping off your outer layers to get at the naked (so to speak) truth -- your irezumi, and what it represents -- is just Yakuza Storytelling 101. It's decisive, it's kind of dumb, it's great, it gets me hyped every time. But I like that Nishiki's honest answer to "what does it mean to be a yakuza?" isn't about looking the part. I am genuinely trying not to end this paragraph by saying that Nishiki must become like a dragon, but like...you get where I'm going with this.

Of course, Nishiki's back to playing dress-up in Y1/Kiwami. I'm not the first to call the Patriarch Nishikiyama look a glow-down (though I like the patterned white tie). Like, fashion-conscious Nishiki would look good in a Hedi Slimane/Tom Ford-esque skinny black suit. But he picks a silhouette you'd expect to see on a much older man, torso-swallowing pants and all. The slicked-back hair doesn't help. He's just so transparently trying to look bigger and broader and older, and he doesn't pull it off. Big Bad Patriarch isn't a good look for him, in any sense of the phrase.

A final thought: Kiryu's clothes, and Nishiki's commentary on them, are the subject of their first conversation in Y0 -- and of their last. Kiryu's costume progression in Y0 is a pretty obvious commentary on his journey, to the point where Kiryu and Nishiki explicitly call attention to the color connotations in their final exchange. As a Dojima grunt, he wears black, and it doesn't look good on him because "brutish thug who keeps his head down and does what he's told" isn't a role he's comfortable with. He wears white when he works in real estate, but the change in color isn't enough to sell anyone on his transformation into a civilian. Although it's a little rich for Oda "Red Clown Shoes" Jun to chide someone for not wearing a proper suit. At the end of the game, Kiryu's in his classic grey suit, and well, the game spells it out:

KIRYU: I’m not feeling black or white these days. This is where I’m at right now. I chose it myself. I’m making it a fresh start. NISHIKI: Fine, fine. See if I care! Wear it the rest of your life!

Nishiki, dismayed, tells Kiryu that the grey suit already looks dated, but for Kiryu, "fresh start" doesn't mean "on trend". His image might be out of step with how other yakuza view themselves, or want to be seen, but if he's always going to look like a yakuza, he might as well stake his claim on what being a yakuza means. Still, it's telling that, even as a young man, Kiryu looks like a throwback to an earlier era. As the series progresses, the games hammer this home more and more. How many antagonists tell Kiryu that he's out of touch with the modern world, that he represents a version of the yakuza that no longer exists, that it's time for him to make way for the next generation?

"Wear it the rest of your life!" is a funny little in-joke, yeah, but...it's a little sad when you think about it, isn't it? Kiryu gets new outfits from Y3 on -- and in every game, he ultimately puts the suit back on and heads to Kamurocho. It's exactly of a piece with how Kiryu views being yakuza. We, and he, can debate the exact extent of his retirement from the Tojo Clan's affairs, but the yakuza isn't a career for Kiryu, it's a set of beliefs he carries with him. He wears the suit the same way he wears the dragon on his back: as an indelible part of his self-image.

[rggz]

majima's fake kansai dialect explained

got this video in my youtube recommended earlier and a lot of people in the comments seemed confused as to how exactly it is that majima's speaking differently in this scene and i love to ramble so. here we are. bit of linguistic meta under the cut :)

quick disclaimer though: i'm not a native japanese speaker nor am i an expert on kansai dialect so there'll likely be some oversights and nuances that i didn't pick up on here. so just remember that this is all for fun. ok?

1. だ (da) vs や (ya)

i'm going to try not to use too much linguistic jargon here so please bear with. in standard japanese the copula (essentially a verb that means "to be" when describing a quality possessed by the subject of the sentence, eg. the sky is blue) "だ" is used in casual speech, whereas in kansai dialect "や” is used instead. listen to the sentence translated as "if you want out, now is the time", and you'll hear the difference - instead of ending his sentence with や as he would when he speaks in kansai dialect, majima uses だ.

2. いる (iru) vs おる (oru)

listen to the sentence translated as "but you've got yasuko". he uses the verb いる (to be (in a location, doing an action, etc.) or to have, for animate objects) to say that saejima has yasuko, whereas in kansai dialect the verb おる is used instead.

3. いい (ii) vs ええ (ee)

see: "saejima, are you really sure you want to leave her behind?". literally, this would translate to "saejima, is it really okay to leave her behind?" (with the word いい translating to okay). in kansai dialect ええ is used in place of いい.

4. 本当 (hontou) vs ほんま (honma)

see the same sentence as no. 3, where instead of using the kansai "ほんま" to mean really (lit. truth), majima uses the standard "本当".

5. いる (iru) vs おる (oru): the squeakuel

adding an extra note on this one because interestingly, even after saejima calls him out on him slipping up, majima doesn't switch straight back to kansai dialect. see the line "i'm fucking serious here" - the actual dialogue translates literally to "[hey] you, when people are talking seriously-".

the japanese present continuous is formed by putting the verb into て (te) form and adding the verb いる to express continuity - to be doing something. "are talking" is translated from "喋ってる" (shabetteru - note that the い sound of いる is omitted in casual speech). however if you've noticed a pattern here, you might think that in kansai dialect the verb おる would be used instead, and you'd be correct.

this construction is used by saejima in the previous line, where he says "you're forgetting your kansai dialect" (though this is translated as "your kansai accent's slipping"). 忘れて (te form of wasureru, to forget) is added to おる (to be). note however that て＋おる becomes とる (toru).

-

it's worth mentioning, though, that none of these are absolute rules (especially not nowadays among younger people). rather these observations were largely based on what majima tends towards using himself in general throughout the series. even in the first half of the same cutscene, i think the difference is pretty stark.

that being said though i do think it's also easy to miss - it's not so much a difference in accent or the way the words themselves sound as it is a case of differences in grammar, words used, expressions, etc.

however, there are definitely differences in intonation between kansai and kanto dialects - in fact, because majima's va is from tokyo he had trouble getting the intonation right, and as such it's a liiiitle off in places, but everyone was sort of just like meh. it's majima so it's fine. therefore, i reckon it tracks that majima doesn't sound too different between dialects and is actually a cool bit of characterisation, albeit unintentional.

as for where he's actually from, it could really be anywhere, but given that regional dialects were a lot more prevalent and stronger even just in the 80s, i'd wager that he is indeed from somewhere in kanto.

this would all suggest too that majima fully mastered his use of kansai dialect in sotenbori, which would make sense. excluding his sequence as the lord of the night in which he uses keigo (specifically a combination of kenjougo - humble language which lowers the speaker - and sonkeigo - respectful language which puts the listener at a higher position), majima has no other instances of his dialect slipping that i've noticed despite how serious much of yakuza 0 is. note that this is not to say kansai dialect doesn't have honorific speech, just that majima is using standard honorific speech, and even this contains interjections of kansai dialect.

as a little related tidbit, something else i noticed is that the only other person majima uses keigo with is shimano (1) (2) (3). not nearly to the business level that he uses as the lord of the night, but it's there (as is his kansai dialect, as he still uses おる and other kansai language that i won't go into here for brevity's sake). instead of using や as an ending particle he uses です (desu, the keigo - specifically teinego or polite language - equivalent of だ), and uses verbs in their teineigo ます (masu) form. he doesn't use it with sagawa, and not even with terada as the 5th chairman in the majima saga.

anyway, that's all :) i was rambling about this to myself in my notes app anyway so i thought why not share it in case anyone else is interested too. ty for reading!

[alinktoana]

new yakuza game, new reasons to be upset at rgg ✨

im not even gonna consider kiwami 1 or 2 bc i havent played them and i dont think they should matter to the point i want to make

but youre telling that guy

and this guy

are the same person?

did that coma erase kiryu's memories of majima or is this yokoyama talking out of his ass bc he doesnt see why majima should even exist?

at this point im blaming everything thats upsetting to me about yakuza on yokoyama lmao the guy has given us many great things but the direction rgg is going with kiryu is so weird. specially given theyre bringing him back basically for marketing purposes, it amazes me how *he* doesnt understand how majima is a marketing darling.

dont get me wrong, i dont mind majima not being on Y8. i *wish* kiryu wasnt there, bc it's time for ichiban&gang to shine. i love the idea of gaiden, ishin and other spin offs, so we can go on playing with kiryu in other bits of his story, and other characters, but *ive said it once and ill say it again, the torch has been passed on, kiryu has been saying goodbye on as many games as he's been in*. even though yokoyama has been there from the beginning, and rgg really didnt give us much interaction, Y3 gave us so much emotion and told us about their bond rather than showed (i mean, for the most part - again, i wouldve loved to have seem more, and im guessing that's what the kiwamis are for). and now you're telling me Y6 kiryu doesnt understand him. wow. date talks about understanding kiryu bc theyve known each other for ages. and kiryu doesnt *get* majima. sure. one of the things that really stuck to me playing ps2 Y1 is that kiryu and majima really are batman and joker, and it's baffling good how they actually got mark hamill to voice majima. and im not here for batman at all, but it's the trope. it's hamilton and burr, it's edward teach and izzy hands (lol), heck, it's jesus and judas (not all my musical theater references showing lol hey taika 😉) . it's not about villany or anything, it's about them being equal power houses on their town, it's about ying and yang, it's even reminiscent of nishiki and kiryu. and i got that just by playing the games. so if the person writing them doesnt see it, that's concernin lol whats good? lmao whats even real? the gaslighting yokoyama lmao

sometimes i forget why i say Y3 is my favorite but that kind of thing reminds me why.

also bless ugaki, a character he's played for years being dissed by his own creator to his face and he's smiling. never change ugaki, never change. (btw credit to the awesome people who uploaded the game footage on yt) also bless ugaki, a character he's played for years being dissed by his own creator to his face and he's smiling. never change ugaki, never change. (btw credit to the awesome people who uploaded the game footage on yt) edit: yeah i didnt bother looking at credits but apparently yokoyama was pretty hands off on Y6, im just being blindly biased :v i should stop lmao *but my concerns about rgg's direction with kiryu remain, regardless who is actually penned anything*

[taki118]

Kirishima and Other Women

Among the criticism and complaints of Raise Wa Tanin Ga Ii aka Yakuza Fiance the most common is about how Kirishima "cheats" but what if I were to tell you this aspect of him actually serves an important point within the narrative? Because it does, in fact it serves a few.

First and foremost this is common in the Yakuza subculture. The series is a bit of a send off to Yakuza subculture and media with references that tend to go over your head unless you are into it (most go over mine). This is no different. While this isn't as narratively important it is important to know overall, the series embraces all things Yakuza the good and the bad (unlike some other Yakuza series but that not a rant for here) And like it's implied pretty much all the guys in the series to it to some degree yes even Shoma. I only have some knowledge of this myself so I won't get into it but I would recommend looking into cause it is interesting and makes sense for the series to incorporate on some level due to this and it would feel wrong to not mention it here.

Now lets go onto to something more meaty and kinda spoilery, so don't read if you dont want. (though I don't think it will ruin your enjoyment)

So these other women actually help to better understand Kirishima and his relationship/feelings towards Yoshino. One detail the anime leaves out is who these women are and they are women. All college age or older, and all some kind of working professional who has skills or connections Kirishima does not have. Remember Kirishima is not technically Yakuza so he does not have access to resources that actual members of the group have but because he is involved with that world still he has to find a way to make up for what he resources he lacks. The safest resource he has found over the years is women.

Just like how Yoshino unintentionally raises the ire of women, Kirishima does the same to men both intentionally and unintentionally. He has difficulty connecting with people which is a topic in and of itself, but because of this he has learnt how to gain connections on a superficial level so he only does so with those he can feel some control over or feels safer. AKA Women. Kirishima knows he's attractive, and he knows how easy it is to charm people but those he had an ongoing connection with are those who understand it's a game and want something back.

It's all quid prop quo, he does something for them and so they in turn do something for him. FYI I'm pretty sure what he's getting out of it isn't psychical pleasure, information, connections and a safe house for sure but actual enjoyment from sex? Not likely again the anime doesn't show it very well but many manga readers have noted how disconnected Kirishima looks during these moments. (Which I will fully get to later) It's an exchange when Yoshino calls him a gigolo she's not wrong, and there is a greater discussion to be had here about how early Kirishima started doing this and all the messy stuff that comes with it but because we don't have enough information on how that started I won't get into it. (and its a little off topic)

Overall all though this shows the audience that Kirishima has a kind of warped view of sex and intimacy, he views it as a resource he can use much like his fighting ability, to him it's the same thing. At least at the start.

When Tsubaki tells Kirishima that he is actually very easy to understand when she has Yoshino there to compare, I believe this was a hint the author was giving us. To understand Kirishima and how he really feels about Yoshino one just need to look at how he is with other women.

It is INCREDIBLY telling that the closest thing Kirishima has to an ex-girlfriend is Nao, because notice how that term is never used within the story by the pair as to what their relationship was. Nao calls Ozu an ex but not Kirishima, he's just a guy she had a fling with (with a weird age gap) even though she seems to care more about him than Ozu (another deep dive I'll probably do). Kirishima also never uses the term, he does note that he did like her to some degree more than likely a little more than the other women he has similar situationships with but it was still at its core transactional. They both wanted what the other could offer more than them as a person. (also just fucking for weeks isn't a relationship) Kirishima always keeps everyone at a distance, keeps everything close to the vest, makes sure the situation is advantageous to him so he can't get screwed over, every single one. Except Yoshino.

You see it constantly in the series as Kirishima WANTS to connect with Yoshino. He wants to better understand and connect with her in ways he has never bothered to before. In fact you can argue that Kirishima is actually more emotionally unintelligent than Yoshino as he has such difficulty in understanding what Yoshino wants from him. He's so use to being fake, to acting the way women around him want him to that it throws him through a loop that Yoshino doesn't want that. She forces him to be a person not a persona.

Because of that, like Tsubaki says, he is desperate to understand and connect with her unlike with the women who he is connected to in a superficial way. I know it weirdly upsets some viewers that these women "Know" Kirishima in a way Yoshino hasn't but they don't actually know him Yoshino does. People often conflate love and sex as being the same thing but its not, sometimes it overlaps (and like that should be the standard but its not). This series sort of forces you to confront that assumption, because the real moments of love are in the smaller things.

It's Kirishima helping Yoshino with her garden, its him trying to get her focus on him, its him talking to her about mundane things, its him seeking out the things she wants, its him telling her his birthday, and yes it's him sleeping with other women to keep her safe. A LOT of people don't realize this but it is right there in the text he only reconnected with Nao because it would make the situation in Osaka more advantageous for him to keep Yoshino safe. There is a very good likelihood that if the situation would 100% not get Yoshino involved that Kirishima would have just stayed out of it. (which like damn sucks for you Nao) In actuality Kirishima likely would have preferred just a normal trip to Osaka with Yoshino (even though the chaos does help him confirm his own feelings again) Kirishima wants so desperately to be connected to Yoshino in anyway he can but you don't see that in how he is with other women, and it's in seeing that you can see his authenticity.

For further reference to something I noted earlier look at how Kirishima looks in these scenes with women both during and after sex.

There's little to no actual emotion or care, he operates almost robotically like you see when he fights someone he doesn't really give a shit about. It is something he's doing cause he has to not cause he wants to. Now compare these reactions to how he reacts when he finds out he accidentally/unconsciously felt Yoshino up

It's this flurry of emotions you can't even fully quantify like he can't even fathom he really did that. Kind of a strange reaction to give to someone who has done way more for way longer, but it makes perfect sense if you remember love and sex are different. With these other women he didn't care, sex didn't mean anything they could have been anyone and in all honesty if he could get away with not doing it he'd probably prefer it. But he loves Yoshino so he actually cares, he is actually turned on, he actually feels something.

THAT is the point of the side women. Kirishima is very hard to understand his character is a mystery for a majority of the series (and to a degree still is) these women help to solve that mystery if you take the time to really look at what's happening and not get parasocially angry that he is "betraying" his love for Yoshino. In his mind he's not because love and sex are different, sex to him until Yoshino is just a tool, its one of the many things that Yoshino changes in him over the course of the series. Lets not forget that one of his side women actually makes him realize the situation with Yoshino isn't all that great (the scene is better in the manga) cause he doesn't have the emotional intelligence to realize that himself and is a catalyst for the two actually growing closer. Like I keep having to cut myself short cause I'll just go off on how wonderfully complicated and uncomplicated Kirishima is as a character, but this is an important aspect to understand and shouldn't just be written off as "He's a red flag".

These women give us insight into how Kirishima is Pre-Yoshino and shows us how far he's come Post-Yoshino, in a way that could not be done otherwise. So maybe it makes you uncomfy for a bit but it's not bad writing it serves a purpose that could not be done otherwise.

[majimemegoro]

honestly i just want to give kudos to whoever designed this pictre because the body language and the expression on Daigo's face hoenstly does a lot more to sell their relationship and Mine's attitude towards Daigo than a lot of relationships in the series that are more fleshed out.

yeah. whoever posed this did a really good job.

[goromibestgirl]

I HAVE A QUESTION

So we know from little dialogue hints that Majima kind of puts on accents around people. He's very private about his early life, and canonically we don't really know where he's from, right?

Why then does he still speak in a Kansai accent after having lost his memories?

When my dad had his brain injury, after he woke up he spoke his mother language first, THEN English. I'm not an expert by any means, but if an accent is being effected for a sort of personality mask, why didn't it drop?

[millionmaggots]

RGG Show was Mid, + a Tangent About Goro Majima

Ok, yeah, I'm glad I didnt get my hopes up, bc WOWIE the amazon prime RGG show is Not Good.

I wanted to like it, but in 100% full sincerity, i would recommend that you watch the unhinged 2005 movie over this.

The games beautifully mix genuinely serious story beats / subject matter with completely absurd moments of levity. This contrast allows you to see the silly and charming sides of the characters, making the story especially engaging precisely because those moments of happiness contrast so sharply with the characters' hard lives. Seeing what they could have makes it hit so much harder when they're put through the wringer.

Kiryu will go through the most gut-wrenching tragedy, then immediately after, you'll do a side quest about helping people find their lost items or something. Ultimately, the series is about humanity, and flawed people in horrible situations doing what little good they can.

The 2005 movie is ridiculous and borderline incomprehensible, but it still captures that mix of tragedy and farce. It's weird, it's campy, it's horny, and it makes little to no sense - It's fun.

I can't say the same about the new Prime series. It lacks the charm and silly antics that separate RGG from any other crime drama, and that self-serious nature just sucks all the appeal out of it.

I'm not upset that it isn't totally loyal to game canon - in fact, one of my main hopes was that it would reconcile Majima's super inconsistent characterization in Kiwami 1.

Him kidnapping Haruka just to get to Kiryu, holding a woman at knifepoint, etc., was all written for the original game in 2005 when he was meant to be a wildcard minor antagonist/villain.

The Majima Everywhere mechanic was added in the remake in 2016 after gradually becoming a much more complex and likeable character in 11 years worth of subsequent games after the original game's release.

However, the added content more in line with his later characterization was tacked on to the original iteration of him with little consideration for consistency, making him feel like one of two different people, depending on the scene.

With the show having the benefit of hindsight, I really hoped they would do something interesting with him, and balance out the genuinely detestable things he does with the silly amicable rivalry he has with Kiryu.

The story of the first game is mostly about Kiryu, Nishiki, and Yumi, but the marketing made a point to say it was (however loosely) adapting Kiwami 1. While I understand not wanting to advertise a brand new show with 2005 PS2 era graphics, I feel like that implied that it would reflect the minor narrative/framing changes and increased prominence of Majima, just as it does with Nishiki from the original game to Kiwami.

Essentially, I wasn't too excited about this series, but I had some hope because they had an opportunity to clean up the story and retell it without the limitations of being a remaster of an old game and following an eleven year old script almost word for word.

Instead, they told a gritty and joyless version of the same story without taking advantage of the freedom to rework a flawed but enjoyable story/script, and in doing so, lost its grip on the central theme of the series.

[majimaisms]

hey so is anyone gonna talk about the uh. the uhhh. the. the

THE. THE

[gamerism]

what im really hoping, is that majima having amnesia means we get to finally meet the real majima goro. every time we've seen him he's been wearing one mask or another, the lord of the night before the mad dog. ect ect.

the trailers we've seen have shown him acting a lot like the mad dog, (though obviously events are distorted if majima is retelling them to someone later on and thats the set up for the game.) and im happy for the mad dog to be present...

but i cant help but feel like it has no place left in the world. the tojo clan is done. the yakuza as a whole is essentially done. and he created it for that environment...so what does majima goro become next, when the context for that dissolves? we haven't seen. can he even still change? he's been the mad dog for so long now...

[overheaven]

thank you for the encouragement @liamgallaghermpreg :3c some brief points about bigender Majima that i was marinating since making the more casual post:

>reclaims own masculinity by cutting his hair short and growing facial hair; keeps this look for decades even when fashion changes, so we might infer comfort and/or enjoyment of the style

>performs feminine caricature of self as a goof yes but also that goof was done with time and care, evidenced by the extremely customized outfit tailored to her own fit and favored patterns, was not fazed or challenged by wearing short dress & heels

>whole character is about exaggeration, performance, and radical change of the self after a period of deep trauma, discomfort, and being trapped

everything comes back to Goromi and how i don’t think that was just a bit to be a menace to Kiryu lol. buuuut at the same time, i don’t see Majima as struggling with masculinity/wanting to transition away from masculinity, (s)he’s moreso trapped by broader social expectations that the yakuza lifestyle puts on him and such. the shift after Y0 is Majima’s self-actualization, and that step is just as important to my read of Majima’s gender as Goromi is in Kiwami 1. i think there are a good deal of things about being masculine and feminine that are euphoric for him! but also, i don’t see her as nonbinary, Majima is VERY LOUD and ASSERTIVE when claiming identity. not that you can’t be loud and assertive about being nonbinary or even having no gender, but i think Majima is the opposite of that where (s)he leans in HARD to both ends of this spectrum… all in a really personal, eccentric way, too, of course! he’s not adhering the social standards of how proper men should dress and behave, but also she’s not the most ladylike woman who shaves all her body hair crosses her ankles. (s)he’s just unhinged in all directions and full of her own brand of gender 💖⚧️🐍

[a-h-li]

Some…. Opinions….

An edit I made where I added some rare pairs mixed with some other popular ships!!

Bonus:

the ones before fav of all time with multiple colors I got stuck between or I feel like would have the most potential unrequited

[saberdramon]

having stared at the kiwamis' cutscenes all afternoon has made me miss the y1/y2 characterization for majima, especially y2. i love seeing him wild and unpredictable and the way y2 chooses to focus on it is a particular treat. i do like that they fleshed him out of course and put him in situations where he isn't all doegy but idk. i like how over the top and wild he is in y2. i like him when he leans into the character. gets whimsical with it. or maybe i am the one being charmed by the performance intended to charm and appeal to the audience instead of showing them the ugly truth underneath oh my

[majimemegoro]

We don’t talk enough about the fact that in Dead Souls Kiryu literally fights the magical personification of suicidal ideation.

[goromibestgirl]

I hit credits on Yakuza 4!

Thoughts below:

I really loved the soundtrack to this game in particular. Out of the four protagonists, Saejima is my new son. I don't care how old he is or how old I am.. that's my Boy. He did nothing wrong in his life, ever.

Akiyama is definitely the hottest, in a greasy kind of way. Like, he's got an interesting take on money and how to utilize it to better your life, but he's also manipulative and lazy. Pop a cranberry pill and hope to not get a UTI kinda guy. His relationship with Hana is SO INFURIATING because he's never going to admit how fucking integral to his happiness she is. I HATE that they made her lose all that weight in like, a month?! Fuck that noise. Fat Hana or nothing! I do love that he immediately went to feed her tho.

Kiryu is... Frustrating. I love him, and I understand him wanting to help the Tojo clan. He put a lot of pressure on Majima and Daigo and then fucked off to live straight, but realized that he could never really escape his loyalty to the clan. I get that the money was tied to Nishikiyama and Kazama, but like, the shit from '85 only came to a head because Saejima broke out. Kiryu technically didn't have to be involved.

Tanimura. First off, ACAB, so write that down. I like that he uses his crooked ways to find the immigrant population. His storyline felt the most tacked-on, but I appreciate the enriched storytelling between civilians, police, and yakuza. It really fleshed out Kamurocho, a city I thought I knew like the back of my hand, into a deeply layered microcosm of the racism and police corruption of Japan. Ma-chan is a cutie for sure, but he was never in it to be an actual civil servant, he only wanted answers/revenge for his dad. He should do like Date and be a private eye or something.

Overall I'm really pleased with this game and as always, I'll spend the next few days off that I have doing all the little substories that I missed.

Also, there's not enough fanfics set during 4, so I've gotta cook my own food, I guess.

[kenzan-kiwami]

been hunting for excuses to write about him again before rgg8 and i finally found one

i didn't think much of this scene when i played through it initially, but going back to it i suddenly remember that scene from the start of yakuza 1 where he tells kiryu that kazama used to be the tojo clan's top assassin. being as close to kazama as he is, i have no doubt he already knows the true nature of sunflower and the deaths of kiryu and nishiki's parents at this point.

a big part of the reason i like to lowball kashiwagi's age (29 or 30 in Y0; mid-sixties in IW) is because i don't think he'd have had such an idealised view of kazama had he been any closer in age to him when they first met. i don't know if they'll ever tell us how long kashiwagi was in the family before he made captain, or why he swore up in the first place, and frankly i don't ever feel informed enough to make those kinds of decisions for my own headcanon. but if he was, say, in his late teens or early 20s, i don't think it would be a stretch to say he might still take some influence from kazama's mentality. absolutely not as much as if he was a sunflower kid (...could he have been a sunflower kid??), but enough to inform decisions he makes later in his life.

to wander further down the path of non-canon, i'm not sure kashiwagi would have decided on his own not to say anything to the boys for thirty-odd years. kazama clearly harbours a lot of guilt around the fact he murdered enough parents to fill an orphanage, and keeping it from the kids means he doesn't have to confront that fact every day he sees them. they miss their parents, but they look up to kazama for offering them a new life. they enjoy his company. they're happy. why risk demoralising them, kashiwagi, after all that?

on the other hand, he could have just kept himself out of it on purpose like he does here. it's an interesting parallel to how he's described in yakuza 3 - staying out of ichiban's drama because he trusts him to sort it himself, vs staying out of clan drama to not bring anything down on his head as clan captain (which obviously doesn't work). still, he refuses to relay daigo's whereabouts to kiryu, because he thinks it best kiryu doesn't know. for valid reasons, but it's there.

i want to say something profound here but i don't think i can. i just really like him in this game. it's nice to be able to see how he's grown and changed as a person since the 80s; since kazama's death; since he got gunned down in his office and died in the arms of his last remaining family figure. but it's also nice to see the ways in which he's stayed the same. this scene from 7 is one of the things that makes me long for a more kazama-centric game, or at least more exploration of kazama's character, because if that gaiden substory is anything to go on he's been informing kiryu's decisions for basically his entire life. it'd be cool to get a more direct peek into kazama's story.